eating

You’ve already rolled your eyes as I waxed poetic about the beauty and grace incarnate that is pasta. Pasta is love, pasta is life, and I hope to one day marry pasta in a small courthouse ceremony with a ring of rigatoni around my finger. Disclaimer: this post was written while coming off a pasta high, in case you couldn’t notice. Forgive my incoherency.

Today we made some 100% whole wheat penne with kale. My mother called it a little naughty and a little nice. She was wrong. Pasta is nice too. A little pasta never hurt nobody. No food in itself can cause diabetes or obesity. But if you’re a little carbophobic you can alter the ratio of pasta to kale or substitute some or all of the pasta with spiralized vegetables, spaghetti squash or shirataki. Personally I find the latter absolutely disgusting and reminiscent of vulcanized worms. Shirataki is made out of an indigestible Japanese root called konjac, so it has zero grams of net carbohydrates and is essentially non-nutritive, although it is a relatively good source of fiber. Do what you want to do. Eat your rubber noodles and be sad.

Or join the Cult of Carbs and live your life in joy. Your call.

Anyway, this recipe is vegetarian and full of delicious veggies so it’s perfect for Meatless Mondays. It can also be gluten free if you use the subs listed above or use gluten free pasta.

Heat the oil in a pan or wok on medium high. Add the garlic and stir until aromatic. Add the kale and bell pepper and sauté until soft, adding a little water or broth if necessary. Add the beans and give it a few good stir until heated through.

Turn off the stove and add 1/4 cup parmesan, 2 tablespoons pesto sauce, the juice from half a lemon, salt and pepper to taste, mix well.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Don’t pigeonhole it into the internet’s list of nasty kale recipes. Honestly I think a lot of people hate kale but pretend to like it since it’s so trendy and has a superfood rep (although the CDC’s Preventing Chronic Disease journal rated vegetables by nutrient density and kale was only #15, probably because it’s more than twice as energy-dense as spinach by mass). A lot of the kale available at supermarkets is really tough and disgusting and inedible especially if you try to make your own raw kale salad. We chose to use kale for this recipe since kale doesn’t cook down as much as spinach so it’s a better foil to the penne. If you hate kale then you can sub some other vegetable, perhaps collard greens, but we recommend trying fresh kale to see how you like it. Some farmers market kale is god-awful but if it’s really fresh then it’s 10/10.

It was shaped like a barn but it was actually quite nice inside.

Since returning to San Francisco from New England I’ve gotten to appreciate the city more. The autumn isn’t as pleasantly pilgrim-y and I no longer live in a quaint little cottage but at least it isn’t freezing or overrun by squirrels. Also, it’s very hipsterish which a lot of people hate but now I don’t have to turn to Netflix to watch Portlandia. A large hipster population makes for bigger and better artisanal-feeling grocery stores that are even more hardcore than Whole Foods. I’m talking Rainbow Grocery level hipster. For me, there’s nothing more fun than wandering the aisles of a grocery store, even if I don’t end up buying anything. In the dead of winter I used to trek three miles through the ice and snow to ogle at everything in Whole Foods and Stop and Shop, often returning to my dorm empty-handed. I’m starting to realize that that’s kind of weird, but whatever.

Totally content with my weirdness. I really like cauliflower, ok?

I once dedicated an hour of my life to choosing the best aubergines from the grocery store. Yes, aubergines.

In addition to the cool grocery stores, there are a lot of hipster boutiques and it’s 100% socially acceptable to dress like a hipster in any situation. I don’t really dress like a hipster when I’m not trick-or-treating but many of my friends and family members do pull off the Harry Potter glasses and flannel shirts quite well. It’s great that they have so many options when it comes to buying nice clothes. Pastel Mint Boutique, an online clothing store based in San Francisco, recently sent us a few items to try out and they were great! We received a utility jacket, an infinity scarf, a sundress, and a beanie. My sister and my schoolmates very much enjoyed trying these clothes on. We highly recommend this boutique! If anyone asks, we heard of ‘em first.

I have been in and out of airports quite a lot in the past two weeks and all the flying was getting on my nerves.It is pathetic how I’m on the top level of airlines’ frequent flyer programs year after year.This is the one area of my life I wish could be different.I’m adventurous only in a spiritual sense — meaning in my thinking and imagination.My physical self is unbelievably timid and just wants to be home.When Angela was a toddler, I took her to Shanghai to see my parents and my childhood friends.They asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and Angela said she’d like to be a tree on Filbert St.That homebound gene came from me.

Today, I heard that the 2nd season of Marco Polo will again shoot in three remote countries.In the 1st season, I only had to be in one of them, but in the new season I will most likely be in all three countries.I was stressed out just thinking about all the flying I will have to do, and the long months away from my family.

I had to bake some yummy treats after I heard the news.The kitchen is my refuge, my shrink. Before I came to the US, I had never heard of shrinks.The first time I learned of Freud’s Couch I couldn’t understand how anyone would feel better after letting their time, money, and precious life experiences spill out like vomit.

I’ve saved a lot money and breath cooking in the kitchen instead of lying on the couch.I free associate better with a mixer in hand.

These Soufflés are light and fluffy and they were made mostly of egg whites, which is great if you are on a reduced carb, or gluten free diet.This was the first time I ever made soufflés and I was curious how they would turn out.I was staring at the oven almost the entire time watching them rise.My excitement grew as the soufflés rose higher and higher in the oven, but the minute I took them out they started to deflate.It was a good thing the kids were already home when they came out of the oven.They should be eaten within 15 minutes before they lose the fluffiness.

Chocolate Banana Soufflés Ingredients:

2 ripe medium bananas, mashed

2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large egg whites

3 tbsp sugar (I used 2 tbsp of xylitol and it was sweet enough)

cooking spray

Preparation:

Preheat over to 400F. Coat 4, 6 oz ramekins with butter flavored cooking spray. Place on a baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, mash bananas and vanilla together. Sift cornstarch and cocoa powder over bananas and stir well.

In another medium bowl, beat egg whites with sugar until they form soft peaks. Fold 1/3 of egg whites into banana mixture. When incorporated, fold in the rest of the egg whites. Spoon mixture into ramekins.

Wipe the top 1/4 inch “collar” of the ramekin to remove any excess batter so that the souffle will rise straight and place ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

I got up early today to try this “zoodle” recipe that Angela emailed me last night. I packed it for Peter and Angela for lunch and I had a bowl of it before I went to the airport. It was so delicious and so satisfying that I couldn’t believe it was also extremely healthy!

In a large pot over medium heat, add in the olive oil. Once heated, add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.

Add in the coconut milk, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and then add in the kale. Cover and cook until the greens have wilted, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the kale mixture to a high-speed blender and add in the basil and cashews. Blend until smooth and creamy and set aside.

Wipe down the pot and place back over medium heat. Add in the zucchini noodles and peas and toss for 3-4 minutes or until cooked to al dente or your preference. Once cooked, divide into bowls and top with green sauce. Serve immediately.

There was a pot of hot and flavorful bone soup waiting for me when I arrived in Shanghai last night for work and to see my parents. They sat across from me at the dining table looking very pleased that the elixir had the expected effect on their daughter. It was an instant energy reviver and mood booster. There is always bone soup waiting for me whenever I visit my parents because they know it’s my favorite and they also know that I don’t cook it at home. The girls, especially Angela, hate the smell.

Before I left for Shanghai, I cooked Peter lunch to quell the separation anxiety. I used the oranges that we picked from my in-laws’ garden to make this Orange Mustard Pork Chop. I always brine the pork before cooking to ensure that the pork stays juicy.

Basic Pork Brine Ingredients:

1/4 cup salt

1/4 cup sugar

4 cup water

A dash of pepper, rosemary, thyme and sage.

Brining direction:

Melt the salt and sugar in warm water, add all spices and leave the brine in the fridge until it is completely cold. Pour the brine in a large ziplock bag and add the pork chops in. Seal the bag and leave in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours.

If you decide to leave the pork in the brine overnight, be sure to soak it in fresh water for about 30 minutes before using. If you cook the brined pork on the same day, just rinse the pork and pat dry before cooking.

Orange Mustard Pork Chop Ingredients:

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 tablespoons orange marmalade

1/2 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 pork loin chops (1 inch thick)

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 rosemary sprigs

1/2 medium red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

1 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Combine juice, marmalade, and mustard in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until syrupy.

3. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add pork to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned. Turn pork; add rosemary and onion to pan. Pour juice mixture over pork; bake at 425° for 10 minutes or until a thermometer registers 150°. Place onion and rosemary on a platter. Return pan to medium-high heat; add lime juice. Cook 4 minutes or until liquid is syrupy. Add pork to platter; drizzle with sauce.

Speaking of oranges, I remembered an image that Angela forwarded to me the other day — how an orange cemented the love of this young couple. I suppose that one of the troubles with a life of abundance is that beautiful things are available without much effort and so the things don’t seem to have the same value. Nothing in the world was ever so precious as that one orange for this couple in Jerusalem.

Peter is patiently working with Audrey on the Merriam-Webster Spell-It — the list of words that might appear on the school spelling bee.Audrey is one of the top two spellers in her grade and will represent her class at the podium next Tuesday. Angela is trying to help too, albeit less patiently, and humble-bragging about all the times she won the school bee. As I listen to their practice I realize that my place is firmly in the kitchen — I have never even heard of at least 50% of the words they are going through.

These aromatic cauliflower tots make perfect after school snack, especially for kids who are vegetarians like mine.They are delicious and packed with nutrition.One reader commented on my spaghetti squash tots that they made perfect snacks for Sunday’s Golden Globe show gathering.I think these cauliflower tots are also perfect appetizer for such gatherings.

*to cook the cauliflower florets, steam a little over 2 cups raw cauliflower florets in a little water covered for for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender but not mushy, then drain well and dry on paper towel, then using a knife finely chop and set 2 cups aside.

Preheat oven to 400°F.Line a baking dish with parchment paper

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture in your hands and roll into small ovals. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, turning halfway through cooking until golden.

We have been eating incessantly over the holidays. There were boxes of Belgium chocolate and Panettone from Peter’s patients. There were the dinner parties with extended family and friends. And this morning, Peter’s mother served us leftover chocolate mousse cake for breakfast.I must say it felt wonderfully decadent with a cup of coffee in the Southern Californian morning sun. But the splurge ends today. It must or else.

In Alexander Dumas’ Dictionary Of Cuisine, he named three sorts of appetites:

1. Appetite that comes from hunger. It makes no fuss over the food that satisfies it. If it is great enough, a piece of raw meat will appease it as easily as a roasted pheasant or woodcock.

2. Appetite aroused, hunger or no hunger, by a succulent dish appearing at the right moment, illustrating the proverb that hunger comes with eating.

3. The third type of appetite is that roused at the end of a meal when, after normal hunger has been satisfied by the main courses, and the guest is truly ready to rise without regret, a delicious dish holds him to the table with a final tempting of his sensuality.

The third type was all we indulged in during the past 10 days.I declared it over by making the Broccoli Kale White Bean Soup for dinner tonight.Eating the soup felt like a cleansing ritual after the holiday transgression.

I used the roasted garlic from a few days ago and made some garlic Parmesan toast with Ciabatta bread. They made a satisfying meal together with the soup.

Ingredients:

1 large Onion (chopped)

4 cloves garlic (chopped)

4 heads of Broccoli (florets chopped; stems peeled and chopped)

7 cups Vegetable Stock

1 bunch Kale ( stemmed and cut into 1/2-inch ribbons)

2 15 .5-ounce Canneloni Beans (drained and rinsed)

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

Place a heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and then toss in the garlic, stir for 1 minute, then add onion. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until just translucent. Add the broccoli and again season with salt and pepper.

Pour the vegetable stock over the broccoli and bring up to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the broccoli is fork tender.

Let cool slightly and then transfer, working in batches, to a blender. Cover the blender with a towel to ensure it doesn’t splatter, and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Place another heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the kale. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the beans and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.

Pour the broccoli soup in kale and stir to combine. Let cook for one to two more minutes to let the flavors meld. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve while hot.

In the beginning of 2014, which feels like just moments ago, it never occurred to me that I would be cooking and blogging about my experience in the kitchen.This seemingly whimsical idea has unexpectedly taken root in me somehow. I’m not sure what exactly is driving me to do this. Angela and I started this experiment in an attempt to make our family eat more mindfully.But what sustains me in the daily practice is perhaps my impulse to make things, and my desire to learn things.I have learned and am still learning how to prepare more healthful and more delicious food.In the process I have also discovered a deep pleasure in cooking, and in looking at all the familiar edible things with the newness of a baby.

I have always loved food, but the past two months have taught me to eat more deliberately, and to taste the flavors instead of simply pigging out.The past two months are also wonderful because the kitchen has become not only a sanctuary for me, but also a warm place where we find joy as a family.The children are now more involved in cooking their own food — Audrey has turned out to be quite talented in everything breakfast — smoothies, French toast and pancakes, you name it.As a matter of fact, she is making healthy-fied blueberry pancakes for dinner as I’m writing.And writing.I have also been learning to better express myself in the language of my adopted country.Words and sentences come too slowly and are never adequate enough to capture the grinding of my brain, but the practice does calm and focus my mind.

Today I want to share with you twelve of our family’s favorite recipes from the blog.Most of the dishes I have cooked are relatively simple and quick to make — something accomplishable on a daily basis.I have completely done away with butter, and in most cases with simple carbohydrates.Almost all of the breads, muffins and cookies were made of almond flour or coconut flour or both — something I hadn’t known one could do before this blog.

“Give me a wildness whose glance no civilization can endure — as if we lived on the marrow of koodoos devoured raw.” by Henry David Thoreau

When I pointed to the sky and told Angela that the bright stars meant we would have a sunny day tomorrow, Angela sighed, “More of your old wives’ tales…”So I was extra happy to see the glorious blue sky this morning.I was proven right in the eyes of my 16-year-old daughter who often thinks that I am stupid.

We took our extended family on one of our favorite hikes in San Francisco — Land’s End, the closest wilderness that we could experience without taking a long drive. The best things in life are free and this hike is one of them.

When Audrey was little, she couldn’t understand why anyone would take a walk. She thought one walked to get somewhere, and she’d always be asking “are we there yet?” when we strolled. That, of course, was a long time ago. Now she is quite a master at taking walks, or as Thoreau put it – sauntering.

Thoreau wrote in his book Walking: “I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks — who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering, which word is beautifully derived from idle people who roved about the country, in the Middle Ages, and asked charity, under pretense of going a la Sainte Terre, to the Holy Land.”

We walked up a ravenous appetite and had the most satisfying sandwiches and soup made from leftovers. For lunches, I like to forage in my own fridge for leftovers and reinvent them into something new and delicious. I never throw any food away.

Ingredients for Turkey Vegetable Soup:

1 Roast turkey carcass

3 cups sliced celery

1 onion

2 cups of chopped carrots

2 cups of mushrooms

2 zucchinis

3 cups of chopped kale

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste.

Boil the turkey carcass with bay leaves, onion, celery and carrots for about hour and half. Use a spoon to skim the fat off the top. Take out carcass, remove meat, chopped it up and set aside. Discard the bone. Add the remaining vegetables with the turkey meat and cook for 20 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

The roasted pork shoulder from the night before was made with a similar recipe as the pork tenderloin, except that I brined it for three hours and roasted it at 325F for 3 hours. I added two 2 onions at the 4 corners of the baking dish to give it a little steam. Then I added the roasted onion to the porcini gravy. The leftovers made the most delicious sandwiches.

Peter’s brother roasted the Turkey a couple of days ago, and today we made sandwiches and soup of the leftovers.

What an honor to be guest posting for Joan! I’ve often said that Joan’s performance in “The Last Emperor” was my inspiration for becoming a film actor; I’d like to think that my sites “The Actor’s Diet” and “Thick Dumpling Skin” influenced her starting Hungry Empress…

…it’s been almost a decade since Joan and I worked together on Saving Face. Even though we only had a few scenes together, we became a family on set – and that often meant sneaking away to the crafts services table together. Weight gain was inevitable; our director Alice has joked that she had the snacks moved further and further away from set so her cast wouldn’t mindlessly munch between takes and cause costume issues.

These days it’s important to me to be very conscious of the power food has over my mind, and my body. In the last 10 years, I’ve overcome eating disorder struggles, and make a daily effort to be kind when I talk about not only about how I look, but how others do, as well. It can be a challenge to acknowledge that what we eat can change how we feel – mentally and physically – but also learn how to enjoy/celebrate without indulging in guilt/obsessive control. To learn not to equate fat = bad, skinny = good. Health is a lot more than a number on a scale (which, by the way, I’ve thrown out since 2006). The most important thing I’ve learned – after 5 years straight of writing about food daily – is that nobody has it all figured out. Not chefs, not nutritionists, not food scientists, not even doctors. So the best diet for you, is literally trusting your own gut.

According to some very reputable source on the internet, sandwiches are the top source of calories in the Standard American Diet. If you’re at all surprised, remember that Big Macs and Fatburgers fall under the sandwich category.

Don’t worry, though, because sandwiches can be healthy! Not just healthy but also yummy as a cheeseburger and healthy as a… I don’t know, a collard green? Whatever, just really healthy! And even if you’re on Atkins/Paleo/raw vegan/tapeworm diet (just kidding!) you can always use lettuce or coconut wraps to make a burrito/roll type thing that fits your needs.

This is love.

For lunch today I had the best motherlovin’ sandwich ever. It was made with 45-calorie 100% whole wheat bread toasted with Jarlsberg Lite with some dijon mustard, roasted bell peppers, tomato, lettuce, and 1/4 of an avocado. Yum! These are just the things I had on hand, too, so it was super convenient to make.

Oh yeah, and you know what I had on the side of my sandwich? That’s right…

2. Salad!

I know, I know, salad gets a horrible rap from everyone. Salad. It’s like longhand for “sad.” Fitness websites are always whining about how restaurant salads are so deceptive and they are full of mayonnaise and bacon and fried chips and blah blah blah! Everyone hates subsisting on pathetic little leaves of lettuce all in the name of health. And worse yet are those stupid bloggers (oopsies) who go on and on and on about how much they love salads! Who can stand them?

But you know what? Salads can be healthy and yummy, and not just by Slim-Fast standards. A good salad can just be a bunch of (preferably healthy) leftovers with veggies and stuff. It can be whatever you want it to be.

Summer salad – romaine, watermelon, and baked tofu

So spiralize those cucumbers! Sprinkle on the hulled barley and walnuts. And if you want, spray some olive oil or add a bit of non-diabetes-causing dressing.

3. Soup

There’s nothing better than a nice warm soup on a chilly day. Or a nice chilled soup on a hot day. Or a hearty room temperature soup after a long day. You get the idea.

The best part is that you can freeze and reheat most soups so you can make a huge batch and eat it for months if you’re into the whole meal-prepping thing. You can use practically any ingredients you have to make a great soup. I personally love my soymilk machine (yes, soymilk machine) for making soup – it purees and cooks all the ingredients so I get wonderfully creamy-tasting soups, minus the cream.

Okay, I realize that pretty much everything here could be a leftover mashup, but sometimes you just want to combine leftovers without even calling it a soup, salad, or sandwich, ya feel?

Sometimes you just want to get food out of the fridge and scarf it down. I definitely feel that a lot.

Well, how can you make this random mashup of leftovers healthy? Easy! You’ve just got to make sure you get three important components: veggies (duh), protein, and (unless you’re on Atkins of whatever, then you can sub cauli rice or spiralized noodles or whatever) starch.

I just want to eat it all right now.

So no matter how busy you are, no excuses! Eat something healthy, yummy, and easy to make. Now that’s a triumvirate of dieting success.